The second (or third, given that the second was cancelled) event in the
1999 Scholarship was a sprint held on Saturday at Castle Combe.

The day was scorching hot (way too hot for my taste, but Mary loved it).
I'd been testing at the circuit three or four weeks ago, so I was
reasonably hopeful for a good result.

The circuit is *very* fast - many of the corners can be taken flat. There's
a long "straight" (it kinks to the right, but this can be taken flat) after
the start, followed by Quarry. This is a flat left hander over a rise
followed by a medium right hander. This is by far the hardest corner on the
circuit - you brake just after the rise (tricky due to bumps in the braking
area) and hope that you've got enough speed off to make the apex of the
right hander. Very easy to spin here. There's then a short straight
followed by a fast chicane (third gear in my car). The chicane isn't too
tough once you know where it is, but the entry is virtually blind which can
make your first run interesting! A long "straight" (more wiggles which can
be taken flat) followed by Tower, a third gear right. You can carry *lots*
of speed through this corner if you get it right, but there's no run off at
all so you don't want to get it wrong. A short straight followed by another
chicane virtually identical to the first and then the finish line (we
missed out Camp corner).

I deliberately took my first practice run easy (lifting before the rise on
Quarry, for instance) just to be on the safe side. My time wasn't bad
though, 79.38, good enough for third in class. For the second practice run,
I concentrated on neatness - made sure that I clipped all of the apexes and
got the power down smoothly. My time was 78.28 and best in class :-)

The first timed run, I tried to carry a little more speed through the
corners. I was a little untidy though and I bottled the exit of a couple of
corners, backing off slightly when hindsight demonstrated that I did have
enough spare track to have kept the hammer down after all. Even with all of
this, my time was still slightly faster (78.22), so I obviously was
managing to carry a little more speed, which was encouraging. At this point
I was second - the leading time was 77.90 - if I could just keep things
neat and keep the power on at corner exit, I should be quite capable of
beating that...

Before the final run, the sun was covered by clouds, resulting in a
noticeable drop in temperature which should result in the track getting
faster. I knew that it was therefore important to get a good time, because
I could expect everyone else to improve.

The run started really well. I got Quarry absolutely right - hit the apex
spot on and kept the power on all the way. The first chicane also went
really well, with a nice four wheel drift on the exit. Approaching Tower, I
braked, changed down, turned in and applied the throttle. This was when I
discovered that the car wasn't in gear :-( What a stupid mistake to make
:-( :-( No improvement on my first run, and a final position of fourth.

Shades of Harewood again - up with the leaders early on, and then make a
stupid mistake and blow it when it counts :-(

Nevertheless, an encouraging day all in all. Especially given that two of
the three drivers in front of me were a Caterham salesman (Jason) and an
Autocar journalist (Alistair) who both drive cars for a living...

Next up is Curborough on Saturday 7th August.

Paul Butcher